


It Was Always You

by slashko



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (mostly), Crushes, Disguise, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Humor, Jealousy, M/M, Oblivious Scorpius Malfoy, POV Albus Severus Potter, Pining, Pining Albus Severus Potter, Polyjuice Potion, Romance, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashko/pseuds/slashko
Summary: Albus Potter can't believe it when his best friend, Scorpius, asks him out on a date. There's just one tiny problem; Albus was Polyjuiced as Rose, and he completely forgot.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80





	1. The Favour

**Author's Note:**

> Not Cursed Child compliant. Decided to write what I wanted to read in an Al/Scorp fic. I started this maybe a few years ago, stopped for a good while and just came back to it now. Thought I should get back into writing. Enjoy!

Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy were the spitting image of their fathers, with their respective jet-black and white blond hair. But unlike their fathers, they were best friends. And they were making their way to the Great Hall together for dinner like every other evening for the past five years when Rose pulled Albus out of the line.

“I need a favour,” she announced by way of greeting.

Scorpius joined. “Oh, hey Rose.”

Rose turned to Scorpius with a withering glance. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Okay,” Scorpius said brightly and continued to make his way into the Great Hall.

“No need to be rude, Rose.” Albus tried to join him when Rose pulled him back again. “If you think I’m helping you after that then you’re wrong.”

Rose rolled her eyes then pulled him back for a third time when he tried to join Scorpius again who had now disappeared. “If I’m not rude,” she said quietly, “he’ll get the wrong idea.”

“I think he’s getting the wrong idea by you _being_ rude,” he muttered.

“Can we get back to the favour I need to ask of you?”

“I’m doing you a favour right now by letting you manhandle me and keeping me away from dinner.”

“Keeping you away from Scorpius, more like.”

Albus scoffed.

“And please, you’re not _letting_ me do anything. You just can’t move from my impressive grip.”

“This really isn’t the way to ask me for help, you know.”

Rose let him go and stood back. “Okay, seriously. I do need a favour.”

“What?” he asked warily. The pleading expression her face morphed into did not bode well.

“It’s not a big deal! Wipe that look off your face. I just uh…” she continued faster, “need someone to Polyjuice into me for an hour and take my place in detention tonight?”

“What! …Wait, _you_ got detention?”

Rose rolled her eyes—there probably wasn’t a person in Hogwarts with eyeballs that get as much of a workout as Rose’s do. “Let’s just say Professor Shrimpton caught me casting a well-deserved hex in defence. Normally, I’d honour a detention but Celine’s having a party tonight so I need someone to take my place. I’ve got the potion ready and everything.”

Albus took all this in with narrowed eyes. “Okay, why me?”

“Well, I can’t ask anyone in Gryffindor. It’s an all-Gryffindor event.”

“So, why _me_?”

“Because! You’re the only non-Gryffindor relative I know well enough to ask. Plus, I know you don’t have anything else to do.”

Albus opened his mouth to argue before he conceded the point and shrugged. “What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll pay y—”

“How much?” Albus asked immediately.

She paused, then sighed. “Name your price.”

*

Two galleons for an hour of doing essentially nothing suited Albus just fine, so after a bit of negotiating, he went along with Rose to the girl’s bathroom.

She whipped the potion out of her robes and handed it to him. “I’m trusting you not to do anything embarrassing while you’re disguised as me.”

Albus took a whiff of it. He almost gagged. “Where did you even get this stuff? You didn’t steal it, did you? Maybe you _should_ be in detention.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “By perfectly legal means, don’t concern yourself.”

“You got it from the Scamander twins, didn’t you?”

Rose gave him a what-do-you-think look.

“At least I know it’s safe,” he muttered, staring down at the potion. It was dark and bubbling.

“Right, so.” She handed him a pile of perfectly folded clothes. “Here’s a change of my Gryffindor robes.”

Albus found it itchy. He still found it itchy at detention where he was now currently sat in the back of the classroom alone with the teacher. He scratched his thigh. Wearing a skirt felt odd. Having a different body felt odd. This whole thing was odd.

Professor Shrimpton stood behind the teacher’s desk. “I’ve been informed last minute that another student will join.”

“‘Kay,” Albus said with a shrug before Professor Shrimpton looked stern. “Okay, Professor,” he corrected. Under the potion, his voice sounded like Rose to everyone but himself, so it was easy to forget who he looked like. He almost jumped when he scratched his thigh again and saw a darker arm than he was used to seeing.

The classroom door opened and Albus turned to see who it was. Scorpius.

Scorpius widened his eyes when he saw Albus before he collected himself, leaning against the doorway in what he probably thought was a cool pose. “Oh, hey Rose.”

“Since when do you have detention?” Albus blurted before he checked whether that was something Rose would actually say.

“I got it just now!” He plonked his bag on the table next to Albus’s and flopped down onto his chair. “I was looking for Al since he didn’t show up for dinner, must have stumbled into some forbidden area ‘cause Filch caught me and demanded I go here. Um, what about you? You don’t usually get detention, do you?”

“Too much of a prim goody two-shoes, right?” Albus smirked.

“No! Not at all. It’s a good thing, right? Being… good.” Scorpius blushed.

Yikes, Scorpius could barely talk to Rose. Probably because Rose never even let him talk to her. Albus sighed and explained what he knew of Rose’s detention situation, leaving out the fact that she also got his cousin to Polyjuice into her to serve detention in her place. Professor Shrimption was still in the room, watching over them. Now was not the time.

Scorpius was staring, listening to Albus’s words raptly. It was warming his cheeks a bit; being the subject of such attention. He couldn’t help but remember that Scorpius had a crush on Rose since practically first year. This was probably the most Rose had ever spoken to him.

_So, this is what it’s like, to be the object of Scorpius’s desire..._

He should probably tell Scorpius it was really Albus he was talking with. He’ll be so embarrassed. But also, a bit relieved, maybe.

Before Albus could open his mouth, however, Professor Shrimpton announced a choice of their punishment for detention; to either read ‘Hogwarts, A History’, or to clean the classroom without magic.

“I’ll read,” Scorpius said at the same time that Albus said, “I’ll clean.”

Professor Shrimption clapped his hands. “Excellent. I’ll get you”—he handed a sponge and a bucket of soapy water to Scorpius—“to clean, and you”—and handed a copy of ‘Hogwarts, A History’ to Albus—“to read. You will be doing the task you least wanted to do as punishment.”

That was kind of both genius and cruel, Albus thought. But he took the book while Scorpius set to wipe down the table he was on.

Albus couldn’t say he cared much about the in-depth history of the bewitched Great Hall ceiling. He sighed and kept reading but couldn’t take in any of the words. His gaze drifted to Scorpius who he was surprised to find, had already had his eyes on him. Scorpius mimed a yawn and Albus bit back a smile.

“I think you missed a spot,” Albus whispered, pointing to a mark on his desk.

Scorpius flicked his sponge at him and hit him on the forehead.

“Hey!” Albus picked the sponge up and glanced at the professor. Luckily, he was too engrossed in his own book to notice what Albus was about to do…

He threw the sponge back at Scorpius, which landed right on top of his head. And promptly burst into laughter.

“Less laughing and more reading and cleaning!” Professor Shrimpton shouted.

“Yes, Professor,” Albus and Scorpius both said, trying to quell their laughter.

Detention continued in much the same fashion and, somewhere along the way, Albus forgot he was even disguised as Rose in the first place. It was just him and Scorpius, like always. Only this time, Scorpius was looking at him in a way he’d only dare dream about. It was dizzying. It was making his brain go fuzzy. He couldn’t be faulted for forgetting he wasn’t in his own body when his heart had floated up to drift along with the clouds.

They were still giggling at Albus’s latest throw of the sponge which made it on to the windowsill, when Professor Shrimpton checked the time and almost ran out of the room, announcing the end of detention. But Scorpius and Albus stayed there, smiling at each other like a pair of lovesick idiots.

“Listen,” Scorpius began, tapping on the desk with his fingers nervously. “Please don’t hit me after I ask what I’m about to ask. It’s just that… after this detention just now, I feel like this might really work in a way I never thought it could before.”

“What could?” Albus asked. Scorpius never got nervous around him.

“Well, um, Hogsmeade weekend is coming up…” Scorpius paused, like he was expecting Albus to hit him already.

Albus just stared blankly. “Yeah?” What did that have to do with anything working?

“So, I was thinking, um. Do you, maybe, want to go with me? You know… on a date?”

Albus gaped. After he finally registered the unbelievable, wonderful question, he croaked, “Yeah. Yeah, of course.” He beamed.

Scorpius beamed right back.

Albus laughed a little incredulously. “I can’t believe you just asked me out.”

“I can’t believe you said yes.”

Albus laughed again, giddy. He couldn’t believe it. He’d never been so happy.

“I mean, I’ve only asked you out about ten times already.”

Albus frowned.

Scorpius noticed. “Or do you get asked out by so many other guys you’ve forgotten?” He nudged Albus with his elbow.

“What are you talking about? Guys don’t ask me out… you know that. In fact, this is the first time anyone’s ever asked me out.”

Scorpius gave him a strange look. “Rose, I’ve asked you out every year since first year.”

Oh my god. _Rose_. Albus was currently disguised as _Rose_. _Shit_.

How could he have forgotten? And detention was over, which meant the hour for the Polyjuice potion was almost up. Albus jolted out of his chair. He yanked Rose’s bag off the desk.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Scorpius got out of his chair too.

“Uh, just remembered! I’m late for… something.” He hurried over to the door, almost tripping on his robes in his haste to get out of there and stop Scorpius from seeing him transform back to himself.

“We’re still on for Hogsmeade, right?”

Albus didn’t answer. He tore the door open and dashed out of the room, turning around the corner.

Now he really couldn’t tell Scorpius that the Rose he spent detention with was really Albus. How could he explain this away?

He could feel his face starting to transform back to his normal features. He stopped running and hid behind an alcove, panting.

How could he have been so stupid? Of course, Scorpius hadn’t asked him out. He asked Rose. He thought he was Rose. Oh Merlin. And for a moment there he really thought…

“Albus?”

His head jerked up. Scorpius was standing in front of the alcove. He quickly wrapped his cloak up to his neck to cover Rose’s Gryffindor tie.

“Did you see Rose pass by here?”

Albus shook his head vigorously. “Nope, no Rose, no.”

Scorpius peered into the alcove, looking him over. “Are you okay?”

“Yep, fine.” Albus was still panting a bit and tried to breathe more normally and not make it seem as though he just ran out of the detention Scorpius was just in.

“Where were you? You never showed up to dinner... I was looking for you everywhere. Filch even caught me…” Scorpius gasped. “Well, hey, speaking of which, you won’t believe what just happened. I’ve got a date with Rose!” Scorpius spread his arms out and grinned from ear to ear.

Albus tried not to wince. “That’s- that’s great, Scorp.”

“Yeah.” Scopius took on a dreamy expression. “I still can’t believe it. She was so cool in detention, like. I can’t even explain it but… you know how I’ve always liked her? Well, of course you do, but anyway, I liked her but I never really knew her, you know? And I feel like, spending that time alone with her, I really got to know her. And for the first time in forever, I feel like I actually have a chance. She… really seemed to like me too…”

Albus didn’t know what to say. This was just horrible. How was he going to get out of this?

“And it’s all thanks to you!”

“Me?” Albus squeaked.

“Yeah! If I hadn’t been looking for you earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten detention in the first place. Where were you, by the way?”

“Uh…”

“It’s weird, though,” Scorpius thankfully continued before Albus could think of an excuse. “She just ran off at the end. I should probably check with her to make sure our date’s still on.”

“WAIT!”

Scorpius halted, shocked at Albus’s sudden outburst. Albus _needed_ to speak with Rose before Scorpius did.

“Uh, let’s head to the kitchen first, I’m starving. And freezing.” It was a good thing they practically did everything together that it didn’t even cross Scorpius’s mind to go find Rose himself while Albus went to get some food.

Scorpius’s stomach chose the perfect time just now to rumble. He rubbed his belly. “I think my tummy agrees with you there, I’ll just check with her tomorrow at breakfast.”

Albus let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

“Well, no wonder you’re freezing!” Scorpius said when Albus stepped out of the alcove, his bare legs now unhidden in the light. “You’re wearing shorts!”

Scorpius did not need to know that it was actually a skirt.


	2. The Plan

Albus went to bed that night with one mission on his mind—to wake up early and talk to Rose before Scorpius got the chance. Luckily, Rose was an early riser. Unluckily, Scorpius was one too. And, perhaps, even more unlucky for him, Albus was a notoriously late riser. It was normally Scorpius who acted as Albus’s personal alarm clock. Then they would go down to breakfast together. If Albus was on his own, he would just snooze all through breakfast and maybe even first class. But he could never say no to Scorpius and his excitement for the morning. He smiled fondly at the thought, before he shook his head and set his alarm. He charmed Scorpius’s bed to make it extra warm and comfortable for good measure.

Albus groaned at the sound of his alarm going off in the early morning, but the memory of last night and the importance of his mission jolted him out of bed. After quickly and quietly pulling on his robes, he sneaked past Scorpius’s still sleeping form and turned the doorknob.

“Mpf, Albus?”

He froze with his hand on the doorknob. But Scorpius’s eyes were still closed.

“Yeah?” He breathed.

Scorpius didn’t say anything. He just turned over in his sleep with the sheets bunched around him, looking cosy and at peace. Albus let out a sigh of relief and closed the door as silently as he could, inch by inch, before dashing out of the Slytherin Common Room, up and down the flights of stairs, all the way to the Great Hall where Rose was sitting at the Gryffindor table with her friends.

He poked her by the shoulder urgently. “I need to talk to you.”

Rose turned with a smirk. “Come to collect your earnings? I should have known only the prospect of money would get you out of bed early. How’d it go?”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about.” He glanced at her friends, hyperaware that all of them were listening. “In private.”

Rose raised her brows but followed Albus out of the hall anyway. “Oh Merlin, please don’t tell me you did something embarrassing.” Rose took one look at his sheepish, guilty face and groaned. “What did you do? Did you get me expelled? Should I start packing my bags now?”

“Look, don’t freak out. But I may have accidentally…” he squeezed his eyes shut and continued faster, “agreedtogoonadatewithScorpiusasyou?”

“WHAT!”

A few students in the hall near the entrance glanced at them. Peter Spinks from Slytherin waved at Albus uncertainly.

Albus waved him off and steered Rose out of his line of sight. “I’m sorry! I didn’t…” Merlin, this was embarrassing. “I sort of… forgot that I was you. So when— when Scorp asked, I thought…”

“You thought he was asking you,” Rose finished softly before punching his arm. “Albus!”

Albus dropped his head into his hands. “It was so stupid. I’m sorry.” He looked up and moved his fingers away from his eyes. “But he’s going to check with you if the date is still on. So, when he asks, just reject him like you always do and—”

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that, Al.”

“What? Why? You’ve rejected him plenty of times before.”

“But I’ve never once said yes before. He’s going to wonder why I backed off after accepting. Even if I call it off now, since I’ve apparently already agreed once, thanks to you, he might think I’ll agree again if he just catches me at the right moment and he’ll always think he might have a chance and I’ll never be free!” She waved her arms around in frustration. “Ugh, but I’d rather be anywhere else than on a date with…” She trailed off as her eyes widened. She grabbed at the pocket of her robes and pulled the Polyjuice Potion out, inspecting it silently.

“Oh no.” Albus waved his hands. “Rose, what are you thinking of doing now?”

She held up the potion. “Say Scorpius goes on this date. But not with me; with you as me. Make it a terrible date. The worst date ever. Just enough to make sure that Scorpius never asks me out again. This could be the perfect opportunity to get him off my back once and for all!”

Albus stared at her like she’d gone completely mad. “That’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard. I thought you were meant to be smart! How am I even meant to make the date horrible?”

Rose shrugged. “Just be really boring. Don’t say anything to him unless it’s insulting. Make it a really lousy time for both of you. Make him see that we’re just not going to work together.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you just did it?”

“No way. Either you’re doing it, or I’m telling Scorpius what really happened.”

“You wouldn’t! Rose, that would be a horrible thing to do! You want to destroy our friendship forever?”

“I dunno, Al. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as you think.”

“Please don’t, Rose.” He pleaded at her with his eyes, willing her to see sense.

She softened. “Fine, I won’t. But I’m not going on a bloody date with him. Just show him a bad time, should be easy.”

Albus scuffed his shoes on the floor. “I don’t want to make him miserable.”

Rose folded her arms. “Hey, you’re the one who got yourself in this mess.”

“You’re the reason this whole thing started! I was doing you a favour!”

“You were doing paid work. Speaking of which…” She pulled a couple galleons from her robes and waved it in front of Albus’s face like a treat. “If you fix this mess you started, I’ll give you your pay.” She pocketed the money.

“But I’ve already done what you asked! I went to detention for you. You can’t withhold that.”

“I told you not to do anything embarrassing.” She crossed her arms again. “This definitely violates my terms.”

“Hey guys,” a bright voice said.

Rose and Albus sprang back. Rose quickly and surreptitiously dropped the potion bottle into Albus’s robe pocket.

“Scorpius!” Albus scratched the back of his head sheepishly, hoping he didn’t hear any of their conversation.

Scorpius turned to him. “Hey, why didn’t you wait for me?”

“Uh…”

Rose quickly interrupted by addressing Scorpius: “Albus said you have something to tell me?”

Scorpius started. “Oh, yeah, um. I was just wondering if we were still on for Hogsmeade tomorrow. Since, you know, you left so early yesterday.”

Albus glared at Rose. She smiled the fakest smile Albus had ever seen on her. “Oh yes, I’ll see you then.”

Scorpius punched a fist into the air with glee. “Great! So, um, I’ll meet you after breakfast at the…” He looked around where they were currently standing in front of the Great Hall. “Here! I’ll meet you right here.”

“Sure.” She looked pointedly at Albus. “See you, Al. Remember to take your _medicine_.” She waved and walked back inside to her friends at the Gryffindor table.

Scorpius turned to Albus with a bright grin. “We’re still on! It’s still happening!” Scorpius was practically jumping for joy.

It was Albus’s turn now to smile the fakest smile he had ever felt on his face. It hurt.

“But what did she mean by medicine? Are you sick, Al?”

Albus shrugged. He certainly felt ill.

*

Scorpius was predictably chirpy all day, speaking of nothing but his upcoming date with Rose. He planned the trip in his head and checked every detail with Albus.

“Should we head to the Three Broomsticks first, or save that for last, you think?” He asked in Transfiguration.

“I dunno,” Albus replied, attempting to turn his textbook into an owl. “It’s up to you guys.” Though, really, it was up to him and Albus.

“What about Madam Puddifoot's?” Scorpius asked over the Slytherin table during lunch. “Do you think that place is okay for a first date?”

“I dunno,” Albus muttered over his soup, “why don’t you ask her?”

“And will you help me get ready beforehand?” Scorpius asked in their dormitory that night before bed.

“What are we, girls?” Albus undid his cloak and dropped it to the floor where it would stay there, crinkled all night. He had to get a change of clothes from Rose before the date somehow.

Scorpius was fluffing his pillow. “I just want to make sure I look good.”

“You always look good,” Albus said absent-mindedly, loosening his tie before dropping it to the floor by the cloak.

Scorpius paused. “Really?”

Albus realised what he said and flushed. “Well, not when you’ve just gotten out of bed.” That was a lie. Albus especially liked him in the mornings—all scruffy and sleepy before his usual excitement for the day burst out.

Scorpius threw his pillow at him.

Albus ducked in time, chuckling. “Pillow fight? We’re definitely girls.”

Scorpius laughed and threw his socks at him. Then his tie. Albus dodged each one until Scorpius’s shirt hit him in the face. Scorpius laughed harder when Albus pulled it off, messing up his hair.

“You look like an electrocuted poodle!” Scorpius had his arms around his stomach, laughing.

Albus chuckled, mostly from Scorpius’s laughter. “A very handsome poodle, I hope.”

“Don’t worry, Al. You always look good, too.”

Albus sucked in a quick breath. Scorpius’s laughter had died and they stood staring at each other in the now silent dormitory.

“Will you be okay?” Scorpius asked suddenly.

Albus blinked. “Huh?”

“Tomorrow.”

Albus looked at him warily. “What do you mean?” Did he somehow know…?

“Will you be okay on your own at Hogsmeade tomorrow? We always go together so I’m basically ditching you for Rose.”

“Oh, I won’t be alone,” he said carelessly, throwing Scorpius’s pillow back to him.

“Oh, how come?”

“Uh, I’ve got a date,” Albus said before thinking properly. _What the hell are you doing, Al?_

Scorpius’s eyes widened. “Really? …With who? How come you haven’t said anything?”

“Well,” Albus said, unbuttoning his shirt, “you were talking about Rose all day.”

Scorpius put his pillow away sheepishly. “Sorry, Al. You were probably bored out of your mind. But this is my first date ever. And it’s with _Rose_. I want everything to be perfect.”

Albus looked away guiltily. And he was meant to mess up Scorpius’s first date on purpose…

“But tell me about your date! Who’s it with?”

“Uh…” Why exactly did Albus tell him he had a date too? “I dunno. It’s a blind date. Rose set it up.”

“Oh.” He looked confused. “Um, well, have fun.”

“You too.” Albus added, “With Rose.”

“Thanks.” Scorpius picked his clothes from the floor silently. And they continued getting ready for bed without another word.


	3. First Dates

Albus expected Scorpius to go on and on about his date with Rose the entire morning like he had yesterday, but he was strangely quiet. Albus figured it was probably just nerves. He didn’t even comment on the extra clothing the house-elves had left for Albus that morning which included—hidden under his regular clothes—what he needed to wear for the date. Smart girl, Rose. Even if this entire thing was her fault.

“You okay?” Albus nudged Scorpius who was staring at his toast.

Scorpius started. “Yeah. I was just thinking. I’ve been stressing myself out all of yesterday about going on a first date that I didn’t even realise, this is your first date too!”

Albus gave him a weak smile.

“Well, you’re nervous too, right?”

He shrugged. “Kind of. But I don’t know who it is, so.” He went back to cutting up his bacon.

Scorpius continued staring at his toast. “You never told me where you went, by the way.”

“Hm?”

“The other day when you didn’t show up to dinner and we had to go to the kitchens after the detention I got looking for you.”

“Oh, uh.” He took another bite of bacon to give himself some time to think. “Rose asked me for that favour.”

“Oh, right. What was it?”

“The—uh.” He took another bite but Scorpius waited patiently for him to finish chewing. “The blind date she set me up with.”

“How is that doing a favour for her?”

Albus shrugged, not sure what to say—he ran out of bacon to give himself time to think of a reason.

“She told me it didn’t concern me…”

Albus scowled, wondering why Scorpius even liked Rose when she was obviously rude to him all the time. And if Rose had just let him in on the Polyjuice favour in the first place, none of them would be in this situation.

“It’s weird, though.” Scorpius poked at his toast. “She was completely different in detention.”

Albus pinched his earlobe nervously.

“Maybe that’s how she really is under all that feistiness.” Scorpius turned to face him. “I think I like that side of her a lot better.”

Albus gulped. Note to self: try to be feisty on this date and less like… himself. Somehow.

*

Albus’s hands were sweating. Scorpius was right; this _was_ Albus’s first date—and it was with Scorpius. Sure, Scorpius wouldn’t know it was him. And he had to pretend to be someone else. Not to mention somehow ruin the date, but it still didn’t change the fact that in a few short moments, they would be walking into Hogsmeade together in a romantic capacity.

A _romantic_ capacity.

 _Merlin_. Albus wiped his hands off the trousers Rose had sent him to wear. Not exactly what Albus had expected as date clothes but he guessed that was probably the point. He definitely didn’t need those gloves, though.

“Hey!” Scorpius turned around with a blinding grin on his face when Albus, Polyjuiced as Rose, got to the entrance to the Great Hall.

He looked so happy to see Albus, he couldn’t help but smile back. _Rose_ , Albus had to remind himself. _He’s happy to see_ Rose.

And then he held out an arm for Albus to hold like they were about to go bloody ballroom dancing in the 1940s or something. Or whenever they did ballroom dancing. He should’ve known Scorpius would be a complete gentleman about this. That just made everything so much harder.

He was still standing with his arm out in the air, with Albus staring at it, before he pulled it back and ran a hand through his gelled hair. “Ah, sorry. I don’t really know what you’re supposed to do on a date.”

“Neither do I,” he said honestly. “Don’t worry, though, it was cute.” Fuck. Why did he just say that?

Scorpius looked surprised, then happy.

This was absolutely not going according to plan. He was meant to be _insulting_ Scorpius. Not telling him he was bloody cute. But how was he even meant to insult Scorpius? _“You suck for being so goddamn adorable”?_ Merlin, Albus was a lost cause.

They headed off for Hogsmeade, walking side by side. And just as he thought of something rude to say to get the plan back in motion, Scorpius took his hand.

And held it.

Albus sucked in a breath. Albus never held hands with anyone. Not since he was a kid and had to cross the road with his mum or dad and he couldn’t really remember that. It was surprising how warm it was. That should probably be obvious to everyone else, but it didn’t just warm his hand; the warmth spread up throughout his entire body. He couldn’t help but be glad that he wasn’t wearing gloves—who needed them when he had Scorpius’s hand to hold on to and keep him warm?

He gazed at Rose’s hand holding Scorpius’s. The sight made him feel ill and strange; disembodied, so he looked up at Scorpius instead and almost regretted it. Scorpius had this gentle concerned look on his face that made his stomach flip. He had to look away.

“Is this okay?”

Albus knew he should say no. Make some dramatic Rose-inspired fit about personal boundaries. Why didn’t Scorpius mention he would to go for any handholding? That wasn’t on the agenda he laid out to him yesterday. He knew he should pull his hand away. But when would he ever be able to hold his hand again?

His head nodded of its own accord. He was weak, weak, weak. A weak-willed, lovesick idiot.

And they hadn’t even got to Hogsmeade yet.

*

“So, where do you want—oompf.”

The Scamander twins bumped into them on their way to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. “Oops, sorry guys!” they yelled back simultaneously without stopping.

Scorpius rubbed his arm. “Wanna try there?”

Albus couldn’t think of a worse idea than going inside Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes Polyjuiced as Rose Granger- _Weasley_. “Uh, why don’t we try The Three Broomsticks?”

They found a nice table in the corner of the room and ordered a pint of butterbeer each. Albus relaxed into his seat and looked up to find Scorpius staring at him. He jumped slightly.

“Sorry.” Scorpius scratched his ear nervously. “I just— I can’t believe I’m actually here with you.” He chuckled but Albus winced, pinching his earlobe.

“Um, yeah…” Okay, all he had to do was show Scorpius a bad time. How was he meant to do that again?

“So,” Scorpius started, “follow any Quidditch teams?”

Albus perked up. “Obviously I have to be loyal to the Holyhead Harpies but Chudley Cannons is the best.”

“That’s Al’s favourite too! I’m guessing in your case it’s more from your dad’s influence though.”

“Uh.” Wait, shit. Did Rose even like Quidditch? “Who’s yours?” he asked, trying to get away from talking about himself. He really had to stop forgetting himself and instead answer as Rose would.

They got their drinks when Albus felt a tap on his foot. He paused and saw Scorpius donning a shy smile. Albus couldn’t help but smile back.

“Really, Scorp? You’re playing footsie with me now?”

Scorpius’s smile broadened, showcasing his dimples in full view. It really was criminal for him to be this adorable.

Albus gave in to the temptation to tap his foot back, earning him a cheeky look.

Maybe, Albus was starting to realise, this was the chance he finally had to be with Scorpius as he really wanted to. If Albus wanted to hold Scorpius’s hand, there was nothing stopping him. If he wanted to brush the hair that had fallen into his eyes like he was always itching to do every time they were studying, Scorpius wouldn’t exactly have a problem with that, would he?

And he couldn’t be mean to him. It was like kicking a puppy and completely against his natural instincts.

Well, sorry, Rose, he thought as he tapped Scorpius’s foot again with a mischievous and not at all flirty (no really, Rose) grin.

*

Scorpius was on cloud nine, Albus decided with a strange mixture of guilt and jealousy and guilt about feeling jealous. They were back from Hogsmeade, having dinner in the Great Hall. Scorpius had his palm on his cheek, gazing into the air dreamily.

Albus stabbed his steak-and-kidney pie a little too forcefully.

Scorpius snapped out of his daze. “Sorry.” He took in the state of Albus’s pie. “Bad date, I take it?”

“No,” Albus muttered. “It was perfect. That’s what makes it so bad.” He didn’t even care if he sounded morosely poetic, it was killing him not being able to hold his hand or do anything like that ever again. The entire thing was a lie and a sham and he felt guilty and glum. Scorpius thought he had a wonderful date with _Rose_. He felt sick. He pushed his plate away.

Scorpius frowned. “Huh? Why?”

“Because he thought I was someone else,” Albus spoke into the table. Why had Rose convinced him to do this? He hated lying to Scorpius. But what other option was there? An option that didn’t result in the complete end to their friendship.

Scorpius’s eyes widened and it was only when he didn’t reply that Albus looked at him and realised what he let slip. _He_.

Albus shoved a forkful of pie into his mouth. Queasiness be damned.

“Did you…” Scorpius said hesitantly, “Did you know it would be a guy?”

Albus’s heart beated faster. He thought he might as well nod, bite the bullet and get one truth out.

“Oh.” Scorpius looked down at his plate and bit his lip. “So… who was it?”

 _You_ , Albus did not say. He glanced around the hall to look for a suitable target but he didn’t like any of them so he said, “Uh, he kind of wants to keep it secret.”

“Surely you can tell _me_!” Scorpius sounded offended.

“I dunno, I should probably check with him first,” Albus decided.

Scorpius went back to his roast beef before he looked around the hall. “Is it someone in Gryffindor?”

“Why Gryffindor?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Since Rose set it up.”

“Oh, no,” Albus said before thinking. “No more questions,” he added.

Scorpius played with his roast beef. His good mood from earlier seemed to be gone.

And he stayed that way for the rest of the day. Silent, withdrawn. He seemed to be so deep in thought that he hadn’t even spoken to Rose since Hogsmeade.

“He hasn’t?” Al asked, confused. He almost slept through breakfast the next day since Scorpius hadn’t woken him up like usual. Instead he woke up himself, bleary eyed, to find Scorpius already out of bed. He all but sprinted his way down the stairs before Rose caught up with him. He might have been avoiding her for fear of what she’d say when she found out how well the date went.

“Yeah!” Rose said. “I assume it went according to plan?”

“Er…”

“What _did_ you do? Give him a puzzle for a date?” She nodded her head to Scorpius sitting alone at the Slytherin table, looking deep in thought.

Albus watched him with a growing worry, thinking about what they had talked about before this mood started. He excused himself, ignoring Rose’s calls for the payment he earned and made his way to the Slytherin table, slowly taking a seat across from him.

Scorpius didn’t seem to notice. The worry bubbled up inside him.

“Hey… Scorpius?”

“Hm?”

Albus bit his lip. “Are you…mad? That I didn’t tell you I’m gay?”

Scorpius’s head shot up, eyes wide. “No!” His shook his head and said more calmly, “No. I guess I just never…”

“Expected it?”

“Considered it as an actual option.” He played with his porridge. “I don't mean you specifically, I just— grew up thinking boys were supposed to be with girls. Despite how… you might actually feel.”

Albus started to a feel a bit defensive. “Well, some people think that but they're wrong.”

Scorpius looked up again. “I'm probably explaining this horribly, aren't I? I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. It’s good, great that you came out to me. Even if it was an accident. I’m sorry if you felt like I was mad. I’m not. At all. I just hadn’t really thought about all this before.” He shoved a spoonful of porridge into his mouth and stood up, facing the Gryffindor table.

He looked back to Albus for a few seconds. “Albus, what if…” He didn't continue.

“What if what?”

“Nothing. I'm just—” He shook his head and walked away. And stopped in front of Rose.

_Oh no._

Albus jolted out of his seat. And promptly tripped over it. A few students noticed and snickered. Albus looked behind him and saw Peter Spinks trying not to smile behind his potatoes. “Sorry, mate. Hard not to laugh at that.”

Albus ignored him and tried to get to Scorpius and Rose before he did too much damage. But by the time he got there, Rose was already glaring at him.

“Albus Severus,” Rose said in a prim voice. “May I speak with you in private about an urgent matter?”

Uh oh. Rose always got formal when she was particularly mad.

“So!” Rose said after she pulled Albus away from Scorpius. “I take it things _didn’t_ go according to plan.”

Albus rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at his shoes. “Er, yeah, not exactly.”

“Scorpius was just telling me how bloody fantastic our date went and that he’d like to go again sometime. Al, did you even _try_?”

“Look, do you know how hard it is to be mean to him? It’s like kicking a puppy! I don’t know how you do it.”

“Maybe it’s easy for me since I’m not the one who’s hopelessly in love with him.”

Albus’s jaw dropped. “I…”

Rose sighed. “So, what? You expect me to pretend to be his girlfriend now? I don’t bloody well think so.”

“Maybe you could tell him you’re not looking for a relationship right now?”

“Tell him that yourself since you’ve basically turned into me!”

“This whole thing was your idea in the first place! I never _wanted_ to be you!”

“You were the one who agreed to a date while being me!” Their shouting voices were echoing through the corridors and a few students looked on curiously.

“I didn’t realise I…” Why did Albus have to be so stupid to forget that he was Polyjuiced as Rose? Why did he have to forget himself around Scorpius so easily?

Rose sighed and lowered her voice. “Maybe I should just break it off myself.”

“He’s going to be devastated! Look, he spent the day with someone he thought was you but wasn’t. I think, maybe, if he just spends time with the real you, he’ll realise you’re not who he thinks you are.”

Rose scratched her chin, thinking it through. “I really don’t want to have to go on a date with him though.”

“Maybe it doesn’t even have to be a date. Just spend some time with him alone and be who you really are and maybe he’ll realise.”

Rose started hard at him. Seconds passed by, she was considering it. “Fine.”

She promptly grabbed Albus’s arm and dragged him back to the Great Hall where Scorpius had his History of Magic textbook out in front of him, looking like he wasn’t really reading it.

“Hey Scorpius,” Rose said.

Scorpius tore his eyes away from the book and looked more awake than ever.

“I don’t want to go to Hogsmeade again but…” She nodded at his textbook. “I do need to go over my History of Magic essay. Want to study in the library after class?”

Scorpius, stupidly, stood up. “Yes,” he said breathlessly.

Rose raised her eyebrow. “Um, cool.” Rose looked like she was already regretting this. “I’ll meet you there. See you, Al.”

Scorpius’s weird contemplative mood disappeared. Now he was just overjoyed about studying with Rose.

Albus hoped Rose could pull this off.


	4. Twelfth Night

Ever since Scorpius’s unfortunate crush had become known to her, Rose had spent the past five years either going out of her way to avoid him or outright reminding him of her distaste in the most obvious way possible. Still, it never seemed to do anything to deter him. Now here she was, actually agreeing to spend time with him in the library.

“So, here’s my History of Magic essay if you want to have a read through,” she said as soon as he joined her table.

“Oh. You’ve already written it?”

“Of course, I have.”

“Oh.” He sat down opposite her. “I thought we were going to study together.”

“We are. I’ll go over your essay too.”

“Well.” He took out his scroll. “I haven’t finished it yet. But… I guess you can read over what I have so far?”

“Sure,” she said shortly, holding her hand out.

Reading over each other’s essays in silence was probably the most bearable ten minutes Rose had ever spent in Scorpius’s company. Until she realised he was constantly sneaking glances at her.

She sighed. “Scorpius, are you even reading?”

“I am!”

“Then keep your eyes on the paper.”

He blinked. Then firmly kept his eyes on her paper. Until he opened his mouth. “So, uh, looks like Chudley Cannons is doing well.”

She put her essay down and looked at him blankly. “You think I want to talk about _Quidditch_ with you?”

He blinked, surprised. “Oh, um, well I thought— Uh.” He scratched his ear, disappointed. “Never mind then.”

Rose went back to the essay and crossed out an unnecessary word when— “Ow!” She jumped in her chair, clutching her foot. “Did you just kick me!?”

“Um, no.” Scorpius looked both horrified and confused. “It was meant to be— I was trying to— you know, a playful tap?”

She glared at him.

“Oh, Merlin, I’m sorry Rose.”

“Look, whatever.” She handed his essay back to him. “Why don’t you work on the rest of that when you’re done with mine?”

He just nodded glumly. He didn’t even look like he was reading her essay. He was just staring at it.

Rose sighed and decided to take out her Muggle Studies book to pass the time.

“What’s that?”

She looked up and noticed Scorpius nodding at the book in her hands.

“Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.” She paused, realising the significance of this. “I’ve already read it for class but it’s interesting, actually. It’s about these twins who become separated in a shipwreck, thinking the other had died. One of them disguises as a boy which means she looks like her twin brother. A girl in the play even falls in love with her while she’s disguised.”

“Wow, does she find out who she really is?”

“Yes, but she still ends up with the other twin. The one who’s really a boy.”

“Oh. But it was really the girl she fell in love with, right?”

“Sure, but she was pretending to be a boy at the time.”

“Still, she would’ve still been _her_ , regardless.”

“You think?”

“I mean, I haven’t read it so I guess I can’t really say.”

Rose closed the book. “You can borrow it if you want.”

“Oh, sure!” Scorpius’s gaze drifted to something on the left of Rose.

She turned around in her seat and saw Albus talking with Peter Spinks. She faced Scorpius again and noticed his eyes narrowing. Now _that_ was interesting.

“Hey, Rose,” he said suddenly.

“Hm?”

“Who was Albus’s date?”

She blinked. “Pardon?” What was he on about?

“Al’s date. Who did you set him up with?”

Her brows furrowed. “Set him up with…”

He finally tore his gaze from the two to look at her properly. “He told me you set him up on a blind date. Who was it? And why?”

Her brows threatened to rise at this news but she managed to not look too surprised. Really, Albus? What was he doing? Was he trying to make Scorpius jealous? She noticed Scorpius’s gaze drift back to them. She could hear Al and Peter chuckling a bit now. Maybe it was working. Well, alright. If she wanted him to go along with it, she would.

“Peter.”

Scorpius’s eyes flashed to hers.

“Peter Spinks.” She nodded to the two behind her.

Scorpius didn’t say anything.

“As for the why,” she continued, “Well, I got a bit sick of all that pining, didn’t I? So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do something about it.” And by saying that, she really was.

“Albus was pining…?” Scorpius muttered almost to himself.

Rose sighed and passed her copy of Twelfth Night to him, while grabbing her essay back. “Thanks for this. See you around.”

Scorpius was almost too busy staring at Albus and Peter to even notice. “Oh, yeah. Thanks…”

*

Potions class was not Albus’s favourite. Not that Professor Slughorn didn’t treat Albus well. In fact, he treated Albus maybe a little too well. More than Albus thought he deserved for his mediocre Potions skills. Slughorn just had some very obvious favouritism going on and that favouritism didn’t extend to Scorpius.

“Apparently he hated my father but loved yours,” Scorpius had explained in their first Potions class with him.

And, honestly, Albus was just not much of a fan of anyone who didn’t like Scorpius. No matter how much that person may like Albus himself. Case in point: Rose.

So, it probably didn’t come as a surprise when Slughorn announced that he would decide Potions partners for the rest of the term and that he didn’t pair them together. Instead, he paired Albus with his other class favourite.

“Hey Al,” Peter Spinks greeted as he came over with his Potions supplies in hand. Peter was tall, blond and not bad looking by any means. But he was no Scorpius. “Sorry again about the other day.”

It took Albus a moment to realise what he was talking about.

“In the Great Hall, when you tripped and we laughed,” Peter clarified.

“Oh.” Albus waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.” Did he have to keep bringing it up? He already apologised in the library earlier.

“Here, I’ll make it up to you by being the best Potions partner you’ve ever had.”

“Ha. Sure, be my guest.”

“That’s a title you’re going to have to earn,” Scorpius piped up, to Albus’s surprise. “I’ve been Albus’s potions partner for years.”

“Well, I love a challenge,” Peter said easily.

Scorpius stared at him for a moment, and then dropped his eyes. “See you later, Al,” he muttered before gathering his things and trudging his way to his assigned partner, Lysander Scamander. Albus would be feeling apprehensive about being the Potion partner of a Scamander twin too.

The rest of Potions wasn’t too bad. Peter did seem to make a good partner; he knew just when to drop the valerian roots and how many times they were meant to stir the cauldron, but that was not surprising as he was top of the class. In fact, Albus was feeling a bit useless next to him. “Anything I can do?”

“Uh.” Peter stirred three more times then dropped two bat wings in. “Why don’t you chop the beetle in half?”

Albus did. Peter expertly grabbed the beetle while simultaneously doing a series of complicated wand movements above the cauldron. Albus sighed and glanced at Scorpius. He was doing his best to block his cauldron from a manically laughing Lysander who had a suspicious green substance in his hand that did not look like anything in their ingredients list. Poor Mary Abbott behind them wasn’t fast enough to stop Lorcan Scamander, though. Their cauldron was smoking something foul.

Scorpius looked up and pleaded Albus with save-me-now eyes. Albus smiled back helplessly.

“So,” Peter said, taking a step back from the cauldron, arms wide and grinning. “How’d I do?”

“I think it’s up to Professor Slughorn to decide…”

Privately, he thought Peter didn’t even need a partner. He was doing just fine on his own. He was not a bad partner by any means, but he was really not the best.

That position would always go to Scorpius.

*

Albus wasn’t sure if Rose was pulling this off. Scorpius did seem to be more downcast these days; he’d often catch Scorpius looking a bit lost and dejected. “You alright?” he’d say. Sometimes, he’d snap right back out of it and be his normal and bright self. Other times, he’d just mumble, “yeah…”, while looking off somewhere else. And some of those times, he even seemed a bit angry, like the time he stabbed his sausage when Peter dropped by with those extra Potions notes.

And yet, he and Rose continued studying together every other day now. He did notice Scorpius didn’t talk about her as much, nor did he seem as excited about spending time with her as before. But maybe that was just his honeymoon crush phase wearing off. Maybe his feelings for her were actually getting serious. But Rose didn’t seem worried when Albus asked her about it.

“He’s actually become quite a good study partner because we get a lot of work done. But, honestly, when we do talk, it’s mostly just about you.”

“ _Me_?”

“Well, you and Peter Spinks.”

“Peter Spinks?” Albus said blankly, completely bewildered.

“Yeah, I told him he was your blind date.”

“You did _what_! Why?”

“Because he asked! And you guys were right there! What was I meant to say? I didn’t know I’d supposedly set you up on a blind date! You’re welcome by the way, for not ratting you out on your lie.”

Albus had his hands covering his face, he was thinking fast. “Is that why he’s been acting weird around us? Oh my god, he totally thinks we’re dating!”

“Maybe he’s jealous.”

Albus had to laugh in disbelief at that.

Rose crossed her arms. “I’m serious.”

“No, you’re not.” Albus waved her off. “At least, not in the way you’re thinking. We’re best friends, he’s probably just jealous in the completely platonic best friend capacity.”

Rose lifted a brow. “Right. Well. In any case, I do believe my payment to you is long overdue, so.” She fished out a couple gallons from her robes and handed them over. “This belongs to you.”

Albus rubbed the back of his neck. “I gotta say, after the complete mess I’ve caused I feel pretty bad taking that.”

“O.K, then.” She pocketed the coins and practically skipped off.

“Hey, wait! I didn’t say I wouldn’t take it! Just that I felt bad about it…”

“Too late!” She yelled gleefully across the corridor.

*

That night, Albus and Scorpius were getting ready for bed. Albus rested his hand against the window by his bed but it felt like ice. It might have even been snowing outside but it was hard to tell with their dormitory underwater. He wiped his hand off his robes before pulling the robes off.

“So, Hogsmeade weekend is coming up again tomorrow.”

Albus froze in the middle of undoing his tie. “Yeah?” Was he going to ask Rose again? Was he going to ask _Albus_? As a friend? As… more? (Of course not, don’t be stupid, Al). He bit his lip and dropped his tie to the floor. “You’re not going to ask Rose again, are you?”

Scorpius scratched his ear. “Honestly, I think that ship has sailed.”

Albus looked up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Scorpius said softly. His lips were twisting strangely, Albus couldn’t tell if he was smiling or grimacing. “So, about tomorrow, you going with Peter?”

“Ah…” Albus wasn’t sure what to say. He pinched his earlobe. “Rose told you, then?”

“She certainly did.”

“Look.” Albus grabbed his pyjamas. “It’s not what you think. Like, at all.”

“What is then? ‘Cause from what it sounded like to me, Rose was tired of you apparently pining after him so she set you guys up and now he won’t leave you alone.”

Albus gaped.

“Are you… happy with him?”

“No! Scorp, I…” What could he even say? The whole blind date never even happened because Albus couldn’t stop stupid things from coming out of his mouth? That instead, he was Polyjuiced as Rose and had a nice date with _Scorpius_?

“You’re not happy with him?”

Al shook his head desperately. This much he needed Scorpius to know.

“O.K, then. Let’s just go together like we always do,” he said casually.

“Uh, alright.” This wasn’t a date, was it? Should he clarify? No, that would be stupid. He’d probably just freak Scorpius out. Just keep it cool, Al. “Sure.”

They finished changing and Scorpius pulled his school robes off the bed when something dropped to the floor. Albus went to pick it up.

“What’s this?” He turned the book over in his hands. “Twelfth Night?”

“Oh, it’s great!” Scorpius brightened. “The language is a bit hard to understand but it’s got girls disguising as boys—well, one girl disguising as a boy—and people falling in love with the disguised people—well, one girl falls for the disguised girl. It’s great!”

Albus paled a bit. “Where did you get this from?”

“Rose lent it to me!”

“Rose lent it to you…” Did she think this was funny?

“Yeah! Did you want to read it too? You can, if you want. I’m almost done with it.”

Albus shook his head and tossed the book back. Even if Scorpius was over Rose, Albus’s stomach still felt all twisted up in knots, overcome with guilt from all the lying. Maybe he should just own up to everything…

He glanced at Scorpius who was now sitting in his bed, reading Twelfth Night, blowing a stray hair off his forehead.

Even if it risked their friendship?

Scorpius may never forgive him. He might never want to sleep in the same room with him again. But, Albus thought as he absent-mindedly drew a line with his finger through the condensation on the window, Albus might never forgive himself if he didn’t.


	5. Clear as Snow

It was definitely snowing last night, Albus thought as they left the castle and made their way to Hogsmeade through the thick blanket of fresh snow.

He couldn’t help but remember that the last time he was here with Scorpius, they were holding hands. Of course, Albus was also Polyjuiced as Rose. He glanced at Scorpius. Scorpius noticed and offered a gentle smile.

Albus pinched his earlobe, stopping himself from doing something stupid like taking Scorpius’s hand.

“Is that a family thing?” Scorpius asked.

“What is?”

He mimicked Albus and pinched his own earlobe.

Albus shrugged. “Pretty sure it’s just a ‘me’ thing.”

“You do that all the time but I also noticed Rose doing it on our date.”

His eyes widened but he quickly tried to cover it. “Oh, definitely a family thing, then. I don’t know. Why would I know?”

“It’s kind of cute.”

Albus almost tripped. He stared at Scorpius. “On Rose or on me?”

Scorpius pushed his shoulder—Albus wondered if the pink in his cheeks was from the cold or not—and gave a cryptic answer: “It’d be cute on anyone.” Then he scooped a ball of snow, threw it at Albus and ran off.

“Hey—what!”

Scorpius was laughing in the distance while Albus was left to scrape the snow off his robes.

“Oh, you are so gonna get it.”

He managed to catch up and strike a snowball squarely in Scorpius’s face. Albus burst into laughter at the sight.

“Al! That’s _cold_! I didn’t get your face!”

Albus was clutching his stomach in laughter. “Sorry, here, let me help.” He then smothered another piece into his hair.

Albus only had a split second to see Scorpius’s glare before he was pushed into the snow with Scorpius leaning over him and shaking the snow off onto him.

“Argh!” Albus covered his face with his arms but Scorpius grabbed them and pinned them above his head.

Albus froze. Not from the snow. But from how incredibly close Scorpius now was with his wet and smiling face hovering just a few inches above him. They were both a bit puffed out from the tussle, breathing in each other’s air.

He could do nothing but stare up at the face of his best friend staring down at him.

“My face is numb now,” Scorpius whispered.

_Want me to kiss it better?_ Albus did not whisper back. Except, Scorpius’s face changed. Wait, shit. Did Albus just say that out loud? And now Scorpius was leaning in.

Scorpius was leaning _in_.

Oh Merlin. Was he going to…? Were they really about to…? Albus let his eyes fall closed.

“What’s this?”

Albus opened his eyes. “Huh?”

Scorpius was inspecting an empty vial. It must have fallen out of Albus’s robes. “Why do you have Polyjuice potion?” He shook it. “And it’s empty! What have you been up to?”

Albus was too dazed and disappointed from what he thought was going to be a kiss with Scorpius to register what was happening fast enough.

Scorpius had been smirking slightly before he took on a more pensive expression. “When do you even get the chance to use it when you’re always with me? The only time you’re not is when I’m with Rose…”

Albus blinked. The information finally made it to his brain but he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“And when you were doing that favour for her and went missing…”

“Um, yeah, that was it.” Albus swallowed, throat dry. “It had to do with the favour.”

“But I thought the favour was that blind date you went on? Wait… ‘he thought I was someone else’? Oh my god, Albus! Please don’t tell me you Polyjuiced into a girl to go on a date with him!”

Albus cringed at the simultaneous accuracy and inaccuracy.

“Why would you do that!” Scorpius got up now. “If he doesn’t like guys just accept it. I don’t care how popular or attractive he is, or how much you might have liked him. You don’t do that to someone. It’s messed up.”

Albus sat up in the snow, stomach in knots. “It’s… I…”

“What the hell…” Scorpius said, surprising Albus. He almost never swore. “Al, you shouldn’t pretend to be someone else to get them to like you. If they can’t see how amazing you are then that’s their loss. You don’t need this”—he waved the bottle—“seriously.”

“I know. It never meant to happen that way.”

“Why didn’t you tell me what you were up to? I would’ve snapped you right out of it.”

“I… I couldn’t.”

“Al, you can tell me anything.” He looked so earnest. The knot in Abus’s stomach tightened. This was it. He had to come clean.

He was going to be so angry. He was going to hate him…

“I thought you two were just really good at keeping it a secret,” Scorpius said, “but now it makes sense…”

“Scorp… that’s- that’s not what I used the Polyjuice for…” He pinched his earlobe nervously.

Scorpius’s eyes narrowed in on the movement. And stayed there. Staring at it. Albus let the words hang in the air.

“Oh my god…” Scorpius whispered, shocked. “You didn’t…”

“Scorp… I…” He couldn’t find the words.

“Oh my god. Albus. Please don’t tell me what I think you’re about to tell me…”

Albus rubbed the back of his neck. “What do you think I’m about to tell you?”

“That you Polyjuiced into Rose and went on that date with me?”

Albus scrunched his face up.

“Oh my god.”

“I can explain.”

“What the HELL Albus! Oh my god! Was this some kind of sick joke? Were you just trying to mess with my head?”

“No! I swear, Scorpius it was not a joke at all.”

“Then what? You wanted to go out with me so bad you pretended to be Rose to do it!?”

Albus’s mouth dropped a bit. “That’s not… quite it…”

Scorpius crossed his arms. “Then why?”

“It’s- I accidentally… Rose… you see… ‘cause it was my fault in the first place.”

“What? Albus, you’re not making any sense.”

“It was me in the detention too.”

“What! Oh my god. That’s why you were there in that alcove when Rose ran off! That’s why Rose ran off! You were her! Oh my god!”

“I’m sorry! I’ll explain everything properly just hear me out.”

Scorpius took a step closer. “I’m listening, Al. But how can I trust that you’re not lying to me now?”

Albus looked down, ashamed. Scorpius couldn’t trust him. And rightfully so. “Do you want me to get Veritaserum?” He stood up. “I’ll get some from the Scamander twins.”

Scorpius stopped him. “No, it’s okay. The fact that you’re willing to is enough.” He re-crossed his arms. “Now spill.”

“Right, so. Rose wanted me to fill in for her detention so she could go to this party. Then you were there and…” Now for the hard part. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Well, I kind of… forgot that you thought I was Rose. So, when you… when you asked me out I thought…” He chuckled bitterly. “I thought you were asking _me_.”

He glanced at Scorpius to see how he took that but his face was blank. Albus’s heart sank a bit but he ploughed on:

“Obviously, after that, I couldn’t tell you I wasn’t really Rose without having to explain that. Rose convinced me to go on the date as her so she wouldn’t have to and to make it bad enough that you wouldn’t be interested in her anymore. It… well, it didn’t really work. So, she spent time in the library with you herself to help you get over her.”

They were silent for a moment. Until Scorpius said, “Then what about Peter Spinks?”

“I never went out with him. The date I was talking about was with _you_.”

“But then why did you say you had a blind date?”

Albus shrugged. He really was horrible. “I don’t know… I wasn’t thinking properly. And maybe, on some deeply honest and unconscious level, maybe I wanted you to be jealous. It was shitty. I’m so sorry.”

Scorpius took this in, rubbing his nose either in thought or from the cold. “So, you were Polyjuiced as Rose two times? Detention and Hogsmeade?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Albus pinched his earlobe hard. “Scorp, I really am sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just couldn’t believe I could be so stupid as to forget myself… I’ve been feeling so guilty and wanted to come clean but I was worried I’d ruin our friendship if you knew the truth and you’d hate me forever, which… I guess you might now…”

Scorpius sighed. “Al, I’m not sure I could ever hate you. But as for our friendship… I think I need some time alone to think.”

“Yeah, of course.” He just needs some time to rethink their friendship… alright, okay.

And with that, Scorpius made his way back to the castle on his own, leaving Albus to watch and worry.

*

The next day, Albus was in agony. He had a restless night, replaying the day’s events of over and over. Scorpius’s face when he came clean, the cold shame and guilt he felt. The moment he thought Scorpius was going to kiss him, only to shut that down with the memory of what came after. Would he ever forgive him? Had he officially made things weird between them? He couldn’t tell what Scorpius was thinking.

He sat with Peter instead for breakfast, giving Scorpius space. On his way to class, he noticed Scorpius and Rose talking in hushed voices.

It was only after Potions class when Albus finally heard his voice again.

“Al?”

Albus whipped around. Scorpius had caught up to him in the corridor. “Scorp! Have you… had time to think?”

“Yeah, I have. And I have a bunch of stuff to say.”

“Alright…” Albus braced himself, preparing for the worst.

“O.K. I feel pretty betrayed, lied to, and like I was made a fool of. And not just by you, but by Rose too.”

“I’m sorry, Scorp. I never—”

“Shut up, please!”

Albus shut up.

“Sorry, just let me get this all out first. Okay, like I said, I feel bad and I don’t like the lying but I understand why you did it. I probably would have done the same thing. It seems like you made one mistake and were just caught up in trying to fix it.”

He nodded. This way going relatively alright.

Scorpius eyed him. “You know, there were times when I thought Rose was surprisingly similar to you. I thought maybe that was just because you two were cousins. But then Rose wasn’t the same to hang out with anymore. And you were with Peter…”

Scorpius took a step closer.

“And honestly? I really _was_ jealous.”

He tried not to take that the wrong way. He was jealous that his best friend was spending time with someone else, platonically. Platonic jealousy. But Scorpius took another step closer.

“I didn’t know you liked guys. I didn’t even really know liking guys was an actual possibility, to be honest. I thought I liked Rose ‘cause that was what I was meant to do. She’s cool and smart and… well, a girl. I never realised how I felt about you didn’t have to be what I _thought_ it had to be.

“I’d been thinking about us for some time. I hated that I let you slip through my fingers. That you were going out with someone else. I didn’t care about Rose anymore. How could I when I realised you were there all along? Al, you’re my best friend…”

Albus held his breath, trying not to let his hope build up.

“But then you told me we already went on a date. We went on a date and I didn’t even know! You went as someone else! I had to think over what really happened when I thought things were one way, only for them to be something else.”

Albus nodded, letting his head drop down, along with the hope he had. Scorpius will never trust him again now…

But Scorpius grabbed him gently by chin and lifted his face up to his. “But…” Scorpius bit his lip. “After all that, my main take away from all this, what I really couldn’t stop thinking about, was that if I’d asked you out on a date, you’d have said yes.”

“Well…” Albus rubbed the back of his neck. “Obviously…”

Scorpius bit his lip again, looking at him intensely. He was still holding Albus’s chin. “And what about now? Would you still want to?”

Albus gaped. “Would _you_?”

He smiled. A wonderful, amazing, impossible smile. The smile he gave in detention after they first agreed to go out. The smile he gave after producing his first successful Patronus charm. The smile he gave whenever Albus had an extra sweet from the mail just for him. The smile Albus dreamt about.

Albus brought his hand up to their faces, mock-inspecting it. “I am _me_ right now, right? You don’t think I’m someone else?”

Scorpius took his hand to push it away, but held on to it. “I know exactly who you are, Albus Severus. And that’s just who I want to be with.” He squeezed Albus’s hand. “I can’t believe I already held your hand without knowing… I just hope to Merlin you’re not really Rose Polyjuiced as Albus this time.”

He let out a surprised laugh. “I hope you’re not either.”

Scorpius gazed into his eyes, looking a bit sad. “I could have kissed you, you know. I could have kissed you not knowing it was you.” His hand slid from Albus’s chin up into the hair behind his ear.

Albus gulped, thinking back to that moment in the snow and gave voice to his thoughts this time: “You know now.”

“Yeah…” Scorpius leaned in, and this time there was nothing else he was aiming for but Albus’s lips. “I do.”


End file.
